Bad PR

I am of the opinion that most veggies get a bad wrap.  Broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, etc., they are all widely neglected and loathed without cause.  I've found that most people who claim not to like vegetables, either particularly or generally, have typically never had them prepared right.

For example, one of my most un-fond food memories of childhood were related to canned vegetables.  Asparagus, to be specific.  I can recall an evening when I was seven years old, sitting alone in the kitchen, just me and a plate of mushy, grey, bitter asparagus spears.  My resolve against consumption of such an abomination was, even then, steely and begrudging.  Overcooked, frozen and unfortunate pickling endeavors can be just as bad or worse than canned when it comes to veg.

One of the most commonly misunderstood veggies is Brussels sprouts.  I admit, even I was reluctant to invite them into my repertoire for a very long time, as a result of another childhood dinner table hostage negotiation.  But just like asparagus they are now one of my favorite veggie treats!  And very versatile.

So if you're just getting started, maybe a New Year's resolution to eat more leafy greens, here's something to get your feet wet with.  A very simple roasted Brussels sprouts recipe.

When buying Brussels sprouts you want bright green (not yellow), tightly packed sprouts on the smaller side.  If you can get them on the stalk that's even better, although much more labor intensive.  Avoid spotty and large sprouts.

When cleaning them, trim the ends of any brownish area and remove loose and yellow outer leaves.

1 1/2 lb of fresh Brussels sprouts, cleaned trimmed and halved.
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
A healthy pinch of Kosher salt
Pepper to taste

Mix your prepped sprouts with the oil, salt and vinegar, making sure each sprout is coated.  Roast them at 400 for 35 to 40 minutes, shaking the pan every so often to prevent sticking and encourage coloring, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

I like them a little on the softer side and I add a little more salt before serving.  A great side dish to your Christmas Prime Rib...  I know it will be for mine!

Baking in Autumn Vol. 2

Thanksgiving and Fakesgiving have come and gone but the harvest bounty continues!  I've had an abundance of squash recently, thanks to Full Circle, and my collection gave way to signs of necessity this week; out of the four I had accumulated my Ambercup finally began to rot.  Boo.

So I had to think fast for the other three, two Delicatas, and a Carnival.  All three squash I halved, scooped out the seeds, rubbed with olive oil and roasted at 375 until they were soft and found their unique distinctions:

• The small Delicata; pale skin with green striation.  Slightly sweet and very starchy, almost like a potato.
• The large Delicata; pale yellow skin with orange striation.  Sweeter and softer, slightly stringy
• The round, jolly Carnival; similarly shaped to Acorn but with an orange and green calico coloring. Soft and pleasant and sweet enough to eat on it's own

I wish I had thought to take pictures before  digging in, but hindsight is 20/20.

I combined the flesh and made dinner and dessert!

For dinner - Winter Squash Soup - serves 4

1 1/2 to 2 cups roasted squash
1 large sweet onion, roasted (I cut it in half w/skin on, rubbed with olive oil and roasted until soft)
2 cups water
2 tsp. Better Than Bullion chicken soup base
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream

Whir up the squash, onion and water in the food processor until smooth
Heat squash mixture in a medium saucepan with soup base and cream cheese over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally
Once cheese has fully melted, add sour cream and heat through until piping hot
Serve with crusty bread - I used Trader Joe's organic Ciabatta baked with a little Gruyere

For dessert - Harvest Spice Bread - makes 2 loaves
(Adapted from a recipe for Butternut Squash Bread I found here)


3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 heaping teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 level teaspoon ground cloves
1 level teaspoon ground allspice
1 level teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups roasted squash, mashed
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup water


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place oven rack in center of oven. Generously grease 2 9x5-inch loaf pans.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices set aside.

 In a large bowl, combine squash, sugar, oil, eggs, and water until well blended. Add the flour mixture and stir until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack; remove from pan.

Cool completely before slicing.

Baking in Autumn Vol. 1

I LOVE AUTUMN!  It's my very favorite time of year!  It's going by so fast, though.  I need to get my bake on.


I've spent my free time of the last month moving into the new house (yay!) or working on my seasonal hibernation tactics (also yay... for me anyway).  I haven't had a whole lot of time or resources to do much cooking, which is unfortunate for the goodies in my past two Full Circle orders.  It seems that over the last month I've accumulated an abundance of Bartlett pears.


There's a common theme in my house when it comes to the produce delivery; much is done in the ways of utilizing the fresh veggies.  Soups, roasts, stir-fry, all sorts of deliciousness has been experimented with, enjoyed, tinkered, etc.  But the fruit often goes by the wayside.  It's either eaten as it is or, as in the tragic case of last month's plums, it sadly spoils.  What a waste!


So with my time today I was bound and determined to utilize what limited dishes I have unpacked and put the too-soft-to-eat, too-good-to-trash Bartletts to good use, somehow.  I considered making the pear crisp that I shared last year in my Southern Comfort post, but that seemed too rich for today.  I looked up bread recipes, muffin recipes, all of which appealed to me but didn't seem to really hit the spot for sweet.  So I decided to make an amalgam of the baked goods I found to create my own Spiced Pear Bundt Cake.


My camera is still packed and I forgot that my new iPhone is fully functional in the needed capacity until I had already made the batter.

The batter will be lumpy, due to the grated pear, but I recommend mixing until just incorporated and then moving quickly to preserve all the leavening power you can from the wet baking soda and baking powder, much like when making muffins.


Another thing I'd like to recommend is to use some plastic wrap or foil to cover the hole in your Bundt pan before dumping your batter in there.  Otherwise you'll likely end up with a mess.  I speak from experience.  (Sometimes the obvious things don't strike you when they should.)  Remove the wrap before putting the pan in the oven though.  Again... some obvious things...

To finish up the cake, depending on how rich you want it, you can make a simple glaze with powdered sugar and milk or buttermilk, if you so desire.  I think it would also pair (I seriously just wrote "pear" and then had to backspace.  Where is my mind today?!) well with a French vanilla or burnt sugar frosting.  I chose to just dust the cake with powdered sugar.

The crumb is much like zucchini bread and the cake itself is just sweet enough, dense and moist.  Flecks of pear are hidden like little fruit gems and the spice gives enough bite to keep it interesting.  I think that it will make a nice, mild desert or a great breakfast with coffee.  I imagine later in the season I'll pair it with some eggnog...  Looking forward to that.


Spiced Pear Bundt Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

3/4 cup butter, softened, or 3/4 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups sugar

2 cups ripe pears (about 4); peeled and grated

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients until well incorporated.  Set aside.

Peel and core pears (I use a melon baller to core them).   Grate  your pears into a medium sized bowl; a typical cheese grater size will do.  Stir in the rest of the wet ingredients, making sure everything is very well blended.  

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until everything is moistened.  Then quickly transfer your batter into your prepared Bundt pan.

Bake for 1 hour, or until the cake is firm to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool your cake for about 10 minutes on a wire rack, then turn it out of the pan using the two-wire-rack technique and cool it completely.  Once cool, transfer the cake to a serving platter and top it as you so desire.

Mac & Cheese: A Love Story

When life is insane, work is stressful, family is driving you crazy and your commute has become akin to a one-sided long term relationship, comfort food is in order. 

I know, I know, I've blogged about macaroni and cheese before.  But it's my favorite comfort food.  So I won't bore you with more drudgery, recipes etc.  But here's my latest batch...

I'm improving on my Mac skills and experimenting with noodle shapes, cheese types, fat content of milk, etc.  This one is a radiatore with Tillamook Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar, Monterrey Jack and a little Beecher's Flagship made with organic 2% milk.

If you have any M&C recipes to share, please do!  My kitchen door is always open...

Mambo Italiano!!!

I.  Love.  Italian food.  I don't know anyone who can honestly say they don't.  I also love vegetarian food.  I do know plenty of people who can honestly say they don't.  My goal is to change their minds with this; my favorite vegetarian lasagna recipe.

Isn't she gorgeous?  And not as complicated or time consuming as one would think.  Here are some tips:

• Do not fear the roux.  If you've read my post about Macaroni & Deliciousness, then you will know I once feared the roux.  But it's easy and worth facing the phobia in order to get a good Béchamel.  And don't be afraid of the intimidating name; it's just white gravy. 
• Don't make it too hard on yourself.  The zucchini and eggplant can be trick to slice correctly if you don't have a mandolin, and the whole marinating and grilling thing can be a deterrent to doing this at all if you're not in the mood.  I recommend Trader Joe's eggplant and zucchini mélange.  They sell it in the frozen food section, so make sure it's fully thawed before you use it.
• Fresh pasta is best, but don't beat yourself up about it.  If you use dry lasagna, par-boil to a bit firmer than preferable to eat by itself.  Don't boil the hell out of it; the rest of the cooking will come in the oven.
• What?  No tomato sauce?!  That's right.  Trust me on this one.  Try it at least once and if you really want some red, drippy, overly robust casserole thing, do it next time.
• As always, make it your own.  Sometimes, when I'm feeling cheesy, I'll add some extra goat cheese or Fontina.  Sometimes I increase the amount of sauce, tinker with some extra nutmeg, toss in some sun-dried tomatoes or what have you.  I recommend against black olives in this one, despite how much I love them, but if that's your thing, that's your thing.

When all is said and done you should have a deliciously oozy, crispy on the top, melty in the middle, delightfully veggie laden plate of awesomeness.  Something like this...

Buon Appetito!

Fancy Pants Vegetarian Lasagna

Olive Oil (for brushing the pan)
2 eggplants, sliced
4 small zucchini, sliced
2 Tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 Tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley (flat leaf)
1 Tbsp finely chopped Marjoram
1 Tbsp finely chopped Oregano
2 Tbsp chiffonade Basil
10 oz shredded Mozzarella (Sometimes I will substitute with a bag of good "Italian Blend" pre-shred)
1 pint (about 2.5 cups) strained canned tomatoes (S&W usually, or San Marzano if I remember to buy fancy pants tomatoes)
1 box no-precook lasagna (if you can't find it, par-boil regular lasagna until bendable but not fully cooked)
1 pint Béchamel sauce (recipe below)
4 oz freshly grated Parmesan
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. Brush a large ovenproof dish w/olive oil.
Brush a large grill pan w/olive oil and heat until slightly smoking
Cook eggplant slices on grill and over medium heat for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towel if needed.
Melt butter in a skillet and add the garlic, zucchini and herbs. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently for 5 minutes or until the zucchini are golden brown all over. Remove from pan and drain of paper towels.

Layer the eggplant, zucchini, mozzarella, strained tomatoes, half of the béchamel sauce and lasagna in the ovenproof dish, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. Final layer should be lasagna.
Pour remaining béchamel sauce over everything, making sure all the pasta is covered.
Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Béchamel Sauce
1/2 stick butter (2 oz)
1/4 cup flour (2 oz)
2 cups whole milk
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

Melt butter, add flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute
Remove the pan from heat and gradually stir in milk
Return the pan to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened and smooth.
Add the bay leaf and let simmer gently for 2 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg

A Side Note...

Damn, it's been a cold summer... Just recently has the sun decided to perch for a few days in a row.  So I've been trying to frequent as many farmer's markets as possible in these dwindling days of summer in search of vegetation.  There's nothing better than eating locally and in season, something which I've just learned a new term for! 

"Scorpacciata!"

I'm in love with the idea already.  Here's a little something to chew on...

"...understanding that it's about deliciousness, not just the slavish attention to somebody else's rules to eating something local..."

And if you're in the area, take advantage of what is being offered nearby while you can!  Washington is such a glorious state to eat in come Indian Summer...